Examples of using the new filter blockEditor.useSetting.before

[bph]

Discussed in https://github.com/WordPress/developer-blog-content/discussions/38

^{Originally posted by **annezazu** December 8, 2022} Pulled from this PR: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/45089 This would be a great filter to highlight, especially when thinking about additional curation options with the block editor. >This allows the injection of block settings into the block editor before everything is rendered, so we are able to customize the settings available for a block however we want. This unlocks a ton of neat options but definitely needs to be explained in detail and documented in general.

[ndiego]

Thanks @bph I'll pick this up.

[cbirdsong]

Here are some examples of stuff that I haven't been able to figure out that seem like they should be possible with this?

• Defaulting the "Inner blocks use content width" toggle switch to off when a new group block is added
• Defaulting the "table has header row" toggle switch to on when a new table block is added
• Removing the custom content width/wide width fields within the layout panel
• Removing the layout panel entirely

(If these aren't possible then I guess that's another thing to clarify?)

[ndiego]

Thanks @cbirdsong, I am going to start diving into this next week.

[bph]

Notes from the Editorial meeting March 2.

Share examples of using the new filter blockEditor.useSetting.before (#38) (title of the discussion, not working title yet) -> agreement in principle for idea, further discussion to follow

• @bph: there will be a Dev Note about this new filter hook and this would be a follow-up post to give people more examples and use cases
• alternative titles to be added to the ticket. @marybaum to work with @ndiego and @greenshady on options

[ndiego]

The first draft of the article is ready for review: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ktyuo4BHOeN3YzIpgoR83tmFGFTZIviKpC-NG2oabpA/edit#

[marybaum]

On it!

[marybaum]

Done!

[ndiego]

Thanks for all your help @marybaum 🙏

[ndiego]

The draft has been updated based on @marybaum's edits. @ingeniumed @alecgeatches @ryanwelcher @mburridge if you have time, I would greatly appreciate a technical review. This will be the first real article on the new blockEditor.useSetting.before filter so I want to make sure I am showcasing it well. 🙏

The code is all available via a companion plugin. I would like to keep the functionality of the examples the same if possible so I don't have to update the graphics, but any suggestions for improvement would be most welcome. Thanks!

[mburridge]

Excellent article. I just added a couple of minor comments.

[bph]

After the 2nd review is done on the blog draft, here is the Pre-publish checklist @ndiego

• [x] Post Title in Sentence case
• [x] Are Category or Categories selected?
• [x] Are Tags identifies?
• [x] Is there an explicit Excerpt?
• [x] Props added? 🙌 Publish! 📗
• [x] add Props for reviews to #props channel in WP Slack

[alecgeatches]

@ndiego @marybaum @mburridge Fantastic article! I left a couple of very minor suggestions. I also left a comment chain about possible performance issues with expensive operations in blockEditor.useSetting.before, but after some testing I was incorrect about the cost of the example code and it's fine.

Thank you for writing up this awesome guide.

[ndiego]

Thanks for the review @alecgeatches 🙏

[ingeniumed]

@ndiego @marybaum @mburridge Great article! I love the practical examples that have been provided along with screenshots of them in action. No suggestions from my end, as it looks great. 🚢

[ndiego]

This article has been published: https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2023/05/curating-the-editor-experience-with-client-side-filters/ 🎉